Picnic with your wine!

This is the value wine site!

Posts Tagged ‘Australian’

What to do? What to do? It’s a conundrum! We need something different, remarkable but drinkable. I’m walking down the aisle and spot the perfect thing.

An Oz wine (as in Australia). The label on the Benefactor Cellars – Shiraz / Syrah (red) 2010 is VERY different, something from a Mexican Day of the Dead wood cut. Australian export wines tend to be good and soft when they’re on the low end of the price range which this is.

I turn the bottle over and look at the back . . . again a VERY positive clue! The winery has written about the wine, obviously they take pride in their handicraft!

I’m expecting a wine sales rep on the ferry tonight! She’s a regular with her husband on the 5:30 Sausalito Ferry from the San Francisco Ferry building and she always likes exotic and unusual wines that are good. So far most of the time her requirements are met.

We board the ferry and we pop the cork and pass the cups of wine . . . AHHH! Another successful foray into the wine wilderness!

We enjoy the ride by Alcatraz and awesome view of the Golden Gate Bridge.

I’ve noticed that Shiraz / Syrah wine that is less popular than Cabernet Sauvnginon or Merlot so what’s available tend to be better quality. Many wineries will sell an inferior Cabernet or Merlot but tend to do better on the less well known wines.

PARTY TIME! We’re commuting on the ferry boat from San Francisco to Sausalito, THE PARTY BOAT! We have a 30 minute ride from start to finish. As we always do we have a nice wine that can go from corked to empty and is good. The Benefactor Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon certainly meets this requirement. We’re enjoying the ride when suddenly we slow down . . . there’s a HUGE container ship in our way. We do a little loop-de-loop and proceed. This is now summer and with all the tourists the boat is behind schedule and I know the captain and crew want to make up time and this is NOT helping.

We start to enter Richardson Bay, the ‘slow down’ buoy, and then we do another loop-de-loop. Is it a race? We ask the ever helpful crew who say there’s a problem at the dock. Another ferry has broken the lines and can’t get away from the dock. We circle around and around. Eventually we make to the dock. Even then we have to wait while the crew jury rigs a set of lines allow the passengers to disembark and board.

We should have brought 2 more bottles!

For under $5 a bottle we have a wine that is ready to drink right after you pop the cork and is fun.

What a day! I’ve been running all over the Bay Area! I had to cross from San Francisco in the BART subway to do a presentation and then hop on Muni (the underground trolly) for a meeting! I’m hot, sweaty and ready to relax . . . but I have to go get my bicycle and peddle to the 5:30 ferry Sausalito! Normally, this is not a problem but there is some sort of event and traffic on Market Street after 5 is CRAZY! Somehow I make to the boat before it casts off.

When I left for my meeting I got a UPS padded envelope and using a soft pack blue ice packed a bottle of Jacob’s Creek still Muscato for the commute!

I carry my bike down to the lower deck and head upstairs to join the other commuters on the sun deck. My arrival is met with cheers – I’ve got wine tonight! We open the wine. We’re curious to see if this is too sweet, Hurrah! Just slightly sweet, but there’s a slight off taste when 1st poured. This goes away after about 10 minutes (important on a 30 minute commute). The 2nd glass is quite good!

How do we pick our wine?

We limit our reviews to 2 categories:
- Wine under $5/bottle
- Unusual liquor
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We select our wine from large retailers of wine:
- Trader Joe's
- BevMo
- Safeway
- CVS and Rite Aid
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We select 2nd and 3rd tier national brands. We skip big varietals major brands since they have already are well covered. We do make an exception for small runs from a larger winery (such as Sutter Home White Zinfandel)

We try to make sure they are in regular production and not 'excess' from a major vintner which can be a very limited run.
This means we tend towards varieties that are different.

The other item we cover are distilled liquor not covered on other sites. Recently we covered Chinese overproof (100+) white lightning, a raw distilled spirit of questionable provenance. This is not covered. Earlier we covered Newfie Screech, a Canadian distilled spirit made by putting distilled fermented beet juice into abandoned Port and Sherry kegs and leaving on the beach of Newfoundland for several months.

Picking a wine – anywhere, anytime!

Need a bottle for something? Many times I don't speak the language & can't read the label!

Most markets and stores have 300 wines. The clerks' can use a box cutter and a bar code reader.

QUESTION: How can get a decent wine?

ANSWER: - Look for 3 things:

1.) Price! This is IMPORTANT! Scan the selves, look for the cheapest wine and add a couple of bucks. If you want higher end double the number!

2.) Next - heavy or light? - Heavy alcohol is 12%+ and light is 11% or less. If it's cold or a young crowd go heavy, if it's warm or older crowd go light. We're now down to say 20 bottles (some will fall in the middle).

3.) "It Factor" - Look at the BACK of bottle. Is there an essay on the wine, picture of wine maker?) GREAT! The people making are proud of their product! Usually any of these is good.

Eyeball them and pick the one that strikes your fancy!!

========>>> SHORTCUT! Look at people's shopping carts, if you see several people with the same wine - that's likely a good wine!